Ah, the first games are always the easy and boring ones. Well we should have no problems with Xativa, hopefully our youngsters will do well against them. I am guessing Marcelo and Casillas from the first team will play, Coentrao is on break as his father passed away recently and I think Diego Llorente, Jese, Morata, Jose Rodriguez and Casemiro will get playing time.

Cartagena caused some problems for Barcelona in the first half and even went 1-0 up, but in the end it was a straight forward victoru 1-4. Pedro needs to score more like that in the league! Good to see the kid Dongou score when he came on as well. Could potentially be the next big thing for Cameroon in the future. The next Eto'o

Ineista is starting to look a bit sharper in recent games. If he can get back to his best after christmas, Messi can stay away from injuries and get back to business, Neymar continues in this form and Cesc continues playing how he has been doing then Barcelona are going to look very strong going into January after the christmas break.

Real Madrid v Olimpic Xativa (the town I worked in for 7 years) is going to be fun. No doubt Madrid will sort out the tie in this second leg, but for Xativa it will be their biggest moment in their history.

2-0 to Real Madrid... Not a bad result and very respectable for Olimpic Xativa. Had they had put away a couple of those great chances in the first leg, then this tie would've been epic! Alcorconazo maybe?

Valencia vs Atletico is today, probably the team that we will face in the Semi-Finals are going to win this draw. It could be a good game, predicting a draw, possibly 1-1 or any team to win, they can both pull suprises!

Some late action on Thursday against Osasuna, I am confident we'll get a better away result this time, when we play the second tie.

I didn't see the game because I worked till late, but from what I heard on the radio last night it sounded like a great game where Courtois was spectacular. I would like to point out that yesterday's performance by Valencia leaves a suspicion once again that players are sometimes the ones that push coaches out! There's no way in hell Juan Antonio Pizzi and his entourage have had enough time in 10 days to change so much within a team to come out competing like they seem to have done against what for me along with Bayern Munich are the best twi sides in Europe right now. I felt sorry for Miroslav Djukic, because he looks to be a good coach and done a great job at Real Valladolid.

Cesc as always this season had a good game for me(I know sir Balon will disagree) and Pedro and Sanchez both worked hard, Iniesta is also getting better by the game at the right time, although I think his passing is too heavy lately, that's something he needs to put right again. It was a good allround performance overall, although expected.

Messi looked very lively when he came on for the last 25-30 mins. Great to see him back.

Cesc was brilliant (I only hope this doesn't mean the usual of him being missing in the next game and keeps it going)... I thought Pedro was fantastic aswell and Messi is back! Is he back? Did anyone doubt him? Pure MAGIC! 4-0

Very pleased to see Jesé in the starting line up, he has definitely earned that. Although I am wondering if he or Bale will play CAM. Also Illara returns to the initial eleven man squad! Coentrao and Varane are still unavailable due to injury

Another good game for Jese and another point he makes to Ancelotti to make life difficult in the selection process. Real won, but again weren't convincing, although much better this time around than in the league between both clubs.

Indeed we were not convincing again, and we should look into that, although a clean sheet is always welcome but Osasuna didn't do much either. Our attack was average with the exception of Jese who was very good and looked lively. Despite being average, both Ronaldo and Bale helped the team. Benzema made quite some errors when it came to keeping the ball and spraying it to the flanks but Modric covered that role perfectly. Hopefully Jese has nothing serious, he is starting to prove his worth and why he should start in the Starting XI.

Atletico Madrid 2-0 Valencia CF. Looks like Juan Antonio Pizzi's miracles only lasted one game. I know that sounds unfair because they've had tricky games, but to much stick was given to Miroslav Djukic in my opinion. Atletico have to be the odds on favourites for this title... But then again, they may be favourites or close for more than just the Copa del Rey!

Can't wait! Puyol had a terrible game a few weeks ago and he needs to get back into form... He is by no means to old to still give the best of himself because when we look at players like Franco Baresi and Paolo Maldini, they played until their 40s or almost. So he can still give it! He just needs a run without injuries, which is difficult considering the way he plays the game. But I need a dose of that type of football... I've missed it lately!